Edith Schippers

The government is threatening to fine health insurers that don't do their utmost to shorten waiting lists for mental healthcare, State Secretary Paul Blokhuis of Public Health said to the Volkskrant.

This is one of the measures Blokhuis has planned to tackle waiting lists in mental health care. Others include asking patients to be more assertive, and making it possible to place care providers under stricter supervision.

The Dutch Health Council wants the government to make HIV prevention pill Prep available to population groups that are at higher risk of being infected by the virus, such as homosexual men. According to the Health Council, the pill is medically- and cost effective and should be considered "essential care" for high risk groups, NOS reports.

The Health Council looked into Prep at the request of former Health Minister Edith Schippers.

If the government doesn't intervene, the costs for old nuclear power plants in the Netherlands can run up to 400 million euros in the coming years, according to a report by a committee made up of officials from various ministries who looked into the nuclear industry. The officials gave this warning during the formation process of the Rutte III government, NOS reports.

The VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie decided not to increase healthcare own-risk deductibles next year, government formation mediator Gerrit Zalm announced in a letter sent at the insistence of the Tweede Kamer. To compensate for that, health insurance premiums will increase by an extra 10 euros per year, RTL Nieuws reports.

The VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie - the four parties currently negotiating forming a new Dutch government together - voted against permanently compensating the NIP-test for all pregnant women in the Tweede Kamer on Tuesday, NOS reports. Those four parties together make up a majority in the lower house of Dutch parliament.

Whether the Dutch national football team will be able to qualify for the World Cup in Russia next year, is a question that's on the mind of every sports lover in the Netherlands today, including the government. Almost all Dutch Ministers watched Oranje lose 4-0 against France in the qualifier on Thursday, according to broadcaster NOS.

Dutch food safety authority NVWA is facing fierce criticism in the Tweede Kamer on Thursday. The parliamentarians have nothing good to say about the NVWA's actions in dealing with millions of Dutch eggs being contaminated by toxic insecticide fipronil. In summary, the MPs accused the NVWA of not communicating well, not responding adequately to an anonymous tip about the contamination and having an inadequate setup to deal with such a crisis, NU.nl reports.

Thirteen supermarket chains affiliated with Superunie quietly recalled waffles and cookies from their shelves on Wednesday because they contain toxic insecticide fipronil, AD reported on Thursday. "We expect more such silent recalls", Wilco Jansen of Emté said to the newspaper. "There are many products with a lot of egg in them. No idea where this is going to end."

The Tweede Kamer is cutting its summer holiday short in order to debate the fipronil contamination of eggs from Dutch poultry farms with Public Health Minister Edith Schippers and State Secretary Martijn van Dam of Economic Affairs, NU.nl reports.

A tip the Dutch food safety authority NVWA receivedabout the use of toxic fipronil on Dutch poultry farms in November last year, specifically mentioned Barneveld pest control company ChickFriend, Public Health Minister Edith Schippers confirmed in a letter to parliament, ANP reports.

Dutch food and consumer product safety authority NVWA denies that it first learned that eggs were maybe contaminated by toxic fipronil in November last year. The authority did receive a report about fipronil in that month, but that report only stated that it had been used to clean stables - there was no reason to believe that it could end up in eggs and pose a potential health risk, inspector general Rob van Lint said on Wednesday, RTL Nieuws reports.

Minister Edith Schippers of Public Health is calling on anonymous sperm donors to make themselves known so that the children they fathered can find them. "Did you donate sperm and see how incredibly it affects people's lives if they do not know who there father is?" the Minister said, according to ANP. "Then you can do a second incredibly good deed by just making yourself known."

Edith Schippers thinks it is time for a new mediator to be appointed in the government formation talks, she wrote in a final report just submitted to parliament president Khadija Arib, NOS reports. She proposed Herman Tjeenk Willink for the job.

Tjeenk Willink is the former vice president of the Council of State. As mediator his job will be to investigate whether a government can be formed with a majority in both the Tweede Kamer and Eerste Kamer - the lower house of Dutch parliament and the Dutch Senate.

With the government formation talks reaching a complete stalemate over the past weeks, pressure is mounting on the Labour party to join talks with the VVD, CDA and D66. A number of former prominent PvdA members are also joining the call. "This is the moment for Lodewijk Asscher to step on board", former PvdA minister Willem Vermeend said to AD. "There is only one solution for the PvdA: be part of a cabinet.

VVD leader and current prime minister Mark Rutte is open to restarting government formation talks with the 'engine' of VVD, CDA, D66 and GroenLinks, but only if green leader Jesse Klaver is willing to come to the table without setting any conditions in advance. Klaver sees no point in continuing the negotiations if the VVD and CDA are not willing to compromise on the immigration and asylum seekers policy, NU.nl reports.

The talks on forming a new Dutch government picked up again on Friday. Mediator Edith Schippers is speaking with all party leaders today, either in a personal meeting or over the telephone. She is hoping they come up with new ideas, or get rid of old objections. "That's not simple, but it is necessary", Schippers said according to NOS.

After weeks of "only" being the VVD leader at the government formation talks, current Prime Minister Mark Rutte now seems to be taking the lead in attempting to pull the negotiations out of their current impasse. On Wednesday he had one-on-one meetings with D66 leader Alexander Pechtold and CDA leader Sybrand Buma, AD reports.

Edith Schipers, the mediator in the Dutch government formation talks, plans to contniue exploring to find the best way to form the new Dutch government, despite the current impasse. She asked the party leaders to keep themselves available for meetings on Friday, Schippers reported to Tweede Kamer presidend Khadija Arib on Wednesday, NU.nl reports.

The D66 will not accept the invitiation to talk with the VVD, CDA and ChristenUnie on forming a government together, the party announced during the early hours of Wednesday morning. A failed discussion with the ChristenUnie on Tuesday showed that the two parties can't bridge their differences and further negotiations "would not be sensible", the party said, according to ANP.

A coalition of VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie is the only majority variant with which the government formation talks can continue, mediator Edith Schippers said on Monday afternoon after again speaking to party leaders, NOS reports.

D66 leader Alexander Pechtold thinks that a coalition with the VVD, CDA, D66, SP and PvdA is a solid formation for the new Dutch government. He asked negotiation mediator Edith Schippers to invite the socialists and labour party to the negotiations, rather than Christian party ChristenUnie, NU.nl reports.

Pechtold believes that the VVD, CDA, D66, SP and PvdA will make a combination that can connect progressively and conservatively. Together the five parties also have a stable majority in both the lower house of parliament and the Senate.

Multiple attempts to get a second round of government formation talks going, failed to get off the ground. The forming of a new Dutch cabinet is now facing a looming stalemate, CDA leader Sybrand Buma warns. "The situation is now in danger of creating an impasse as parties say they don't want to participate, or won't participate in certain compositions", he said after his second meeting in as many days with negotiation mediator Edith Schippers, NU.nl reports.